Nancy Rivard wrote, “My husband and I moved to El Salvador in January 2020 to help the dynamic new President, Nayib Bukele. In Barra de Santiago we discovered an area rich in endangered wildlife. Most importantly, children and adults alike were eager to change old ways and recognize the importance of turtle conservation to sustain their fishing life.

Resident Ruben Navarro, now 49, learned how to hatch sea turtles from his father when he was 9 years old. From an early age, he was taught the basic principles of marine conservation and, as a fisherman, he demonstrated to his community how important these practices were to support Barra de Santiago’s families in the long term. Typical of previous years, in 2021, Ruben hatched over 3,000 sea turtle eggs with a mortality rate of less than 1 percent.  The surrounding community now celebrates the baby hatchlings as they are released into the sea and return to precisely the same beaches each year some 20 years later.

 

We are expanding his program to provide turtle conservation and education to other beaches.  We plan missions to examine and support this project in late 2022 (nesting season) and into early 2023 (hatching season).  The Airline Ambassadors conservation project supports similar small scale sea turtle egg hatcheries with conservation education on other beaches. AAI is encouraging individual participation in conservation practices for local fishermen which increases environmental awareness, creates a sense of personal ownership over the resource and enhances sustainable outcomes.  See video below from Jan 25, 2021 when we released another 84 baby turtles!

You can Donate to help this project HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Problem

Sea turtles are in danger worldwide. Facing overwhelming pressure from the illegal egg trade, destructive fishing practices, habitat loss, lack of local environmental education and integrating local projects into global conservation networks, sea turtles found in Central and South American waters are on the verge of extinction and virtually all sea turtles are designated as species of concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Sea turtle populations and their habitats face continued threats from climate change, deforestation, pollution and unregulated development, including dangers from sea transport. In El Salvador, we have established our program on the Barra de Santiago beach.  Barra de Santiago has a Ramsar Convention wetland designation and is home to American crocodiles while, because of its relative underdevelopment, also fosters nesting sites for four species of sea turtles. In 2020 Barra de Santiago observed the only known nesting of the Pacific Leatherback, where the successful establishment of a conserservation ethos has sensitized the community to the special needs of a lone female that has been returning over many years.

                                                                             The Solution

AAI is enhancing the integrity of the breeding cycle through protection of local nesting sites through the release night which increases hatchling survival.  In 2021, with local fisherman engagement, we have successfully released over 3,000 hatchlings while locals have profited more from this project than from otherwise selling or eating the eggs. This project is seen by locals as a best practice for other coastal communities in El Salvador, including other hatching projects up and down the beach. We are enhancing local capacity and attitudes toward conservation while improving community incentives to protect resident sea turtles by providing alternative livelihood income. This project engages impoverished local beach communities living in critical nesting habitat for sea turtles by basically paying families for successful release. As a  family project, fishermen protect each nest on their beach front area. This sometimes means building a small shaded creche around the nests for predation with a sensitivity to keeping certain eggs cooler than others, for the benefit of encouraging an optimal male/female ratio in an era of warmer tempertures. The family project approach also encourages close familes and creates competition for best methods that encourage ultimate successful hatching and release along an entire 25 kilometer stretch of beach.

Long Term Impact

Sea turtles are considered a keystone species, a species which an ecosystem depends on to maintain a proper biological balance. They help maintain biodiversity, improve nutrient-cycling processes, and provide food for ocean fauna. Sea turtles are also a keystone species for the tourism which generates local income displaced by more destructive conservation practices, such as egg collecting. By protecting sea turtles, we can improve attitudes about environments vital to life in El Salvador. An understanding about sea turtle conservation is readily applied to even global environmental issues our own species faces. A recent example for Barra de Santiago beach was experienced when 21 contaners containing sheetrock destined for Acajutla Harbor went overboard and their contents littered the entire stretch of beaches from the Guatemalan border to beaches over 20 miles to the east. The accident happened in November 2021 and the locals, worried that the abrasive gypsum would impact the health of the females just offshore and ready to lay their eggs, mobilized the same day to pick up and rake the entire stretch. Through their mayor and through the national governments Chamber of Deputies, they lobbied for increased fines for shipping companies for spills which, we understand, has been responsible for enhanced inspections for the boats departing for Salvadoran waters.

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Airline Ambassadors also supports El Salvador’s women-run conservation organization, the AMBAS tuttle hatchery in Barra de Santiago.

In 2019 AMBAS hatched 60,000 sea turtle eggs while sustaining the livelihoods of former egg collectors for restaurants. AAI and AMBAS  supporting QUELONA  founded by Rosa Aguilar) is involving community members with the global conservation community in the decision-making process by encouraging participation in conservation activities which increases environmental awareness, creates a sense of ownership over the resource, and ensures more sustainable outcomes.